Herbert Clark Hoover Born: August 10, 1974 Died: October 20, 1964 Political Party: Republican Term: 1929-1933 Vice-President: Charles Curtis
Thesis
President Herbert Hoover, the Great Engineer, came into his presidency with an enormous amount of energy and progressive ideals. When Hoover took office the economy was flourishing, but in a few months the stock market crashed twice in less than a week. This sent the United States into the Great Depression. Prosperity was difficult under these conditions, but Hoover made positive contributions as well as bad. I would give Herbert Hoover a C+ as president of the United States.
Goals
President Hoover's goals from the beginning of his term to the end of his term changed due to the Great Depression. One of his first goals was to improve the quality of the conditions of native americans on Indian reservations. Another goal was to pass the Boulder Dam Project Act, which would produce electricity for public buildings in Califorina. The dam was later renamed the Hoover Dam and is still active today. But the two main goals of Hoover's was to improve the economy for the nation's agricultural sector and reform of the tariffs. In 1929, the Federal Farm Board was up and running, and they had a $500 million budget to make impovements. With the tariffs reform, President Hoover believed in a lower tariff, but still wanted protection of the agricultural business. The house passed the bill but the senators from the East killed it and the issue of what to do with the tariff remained at a stallmate after much disscusion. Later, the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was later passed and increased the tariff to about 41%. This was the second highest in the nation's history. Many of his new goals were focused on fixing the Great Depression.
Relationship with Congress
Herbert Hoover's relationship with congress was not very good. Even before he became president, many republicans did not like or trust him. Hoover made many political enemies when he was pressing the Federal Farm Board on Congress. This tured out not to be a wise decision or political move. When Hoover was trying to pass a new reform bill on protective tariffs, congress ended up in a stallmate over the issue for a couple of months. Congress was divided in many fractions in support of and not in support of the Hoover. Later the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was passed, but the tariff was the second highest in the nation's history even to today's date. This also went against his views, were he believed in lowering the tariff.
Positive Outcome
The most positive outcome of Herbert Hoover's presidency was successfully enforcing the Good Neighbor policy. Not only did he talk about what he was going to do, he actually walked the walk. With the Clark Memorandum passed, Hoover removed military troops from Latin America countries as well removing numerous naval ships in the region. This lessened the American influence on these developing nations. Also, Hoover personally solved a dispute between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. The Good Neighbor policy was the most positive outcome in Hoover's presidency, but he also had many more.
Negative Outcome
The most negative outcome of Hoover's presidency was the passing of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. Even though a reform of the tariff was necessary, this was not the one to pass. Not only did the tariff hurt the United State's economy, but the worlds' too. Imports and exports significantly dropped around the globe. This only deepened the United States futher into the drepression. The protective tariff became the second highest in the nation's history. Also, it was a suprise this act was passed because of Hoover's belief in a lower protective tariff. The only industry Hoover wanted to be heavily protected was the agricultural industry. This was be far the worst outcome of Hoover's presidency.
Influnce
One of the biggest influences from Hoover's presidency was his Good Neighbor policy. The policy laid a solid foundation for future presidents to follow in. This is key for good solid relationships with foreign nations. Other than the Good Neighbor policy, Hoover had no other influence on society because of his focus on improving the national economy during the Great Depression.
Conclusion
Herbert Hoover faced the hardest times as president. The Great Depression shocked the government as well as the whole nation. He was not prepared for the task at hand and his advisers mislead him. He tried his best to improve the economy to the best of his abilities. Hoover had very positive outcomes and very negative outcomes through out his presidency. There were a few more positives actions than negative, so Herbert Hoover deserves a C+ as president of the United States.
Herbert Clark Hoover
Born: August 10, 1974
Died: October 20, 1964
Political Party: Republican
Term: 1929-1933
Vice-President: Charles Curtis
Thesis
President Herbert Hoover, the Great Engineer, came into his presidency with an enormous amount of energy and progressive ideals. When Hoover took office the economy was flourishing, but in a few months the stock market crashed twice in less than a week. This sent the United States into the Great Depression. Prosperity was difficult under these conditions, but Hoover made positive contributions as well as bad. I would give Herbert Hoover a C+ as president of the United States.
Goals
President Hoover's goals from the beginning of his term to the end of his term changed due to the Great Depression. One of his first goals was to improve the quality of the conditions of native americans on Indian reservations. Another goal was to pass the Boulder Dam Project Act, which would produce electricity for public buildings in Califorina. The dam was later renamed the Hoover Dam and is still active today. But the two main goals of Hoover's was to improve the economy for the nation's agricultural sector and reform of the tariffs. In 1929, the Federal Farm Board was up and running, and they had a $500 million budget to make impovements. With the tariffs reform, President Hoover believed in a lower tariff, but still wanted protection of the agricultural business. The house passed the bill but the senators from the East killed it and the issue of what to do with the tariff remained at a stallmate after much disscusion. Later, the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was later passed and increased the tariff to about 41%. This was the second highest in the nation's history. Many of his new goals were focused on fixing the Great Depression.
Relationship with Congress
Herbert Hoover's relationship with congress was not very good. Even before he became president, many republicans did not like or trust him. Hoover made many political enemies when he was pressing the Federal Farm Board on Congress. This tured out not to be a wise decision or political move. When Hoover was trying to pass a new reform bill on protective tariffs, congress ended up in a stallmate over the issue for a couple of months. Congress was divided in many fractions in support of and not in support of the Hoover. Later the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was passed, but the tariff was the second highest in the nation's history even to today's date. This also went against his views, were he believed in lowering the tariff.
Positive Outcome
The most positive outcome of Herbert Hoover's presidency was successfully enforcing the Good Neighbor policy. Not only did he talk about what he was going to do, he actually walked the walk. With the Clark Memorandum passed, Hoover removed military troops from Latin America countries as well removing numerous naval ships in the region. This lessened the American influence on these developing nations. Also, Hoover personally solved a dispute between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. The Good Neighbor policy was the most positive outcome in Hoover's presidency, but he also had many more.
Negative Outcome
The most negative outcome of Hoover's presidency was the passing of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. Even though a reform of the tariff was necessary, this was not the one to pass. Not only did the tariff hurt the United State's economy, but the worlds' too. Imports and exports significantly dropped around the globe. This only deepened the United States futher into the drepression. The protective tariff became the second highest in the nation's history. Also, it was a suprise this act was passed because of Hoover's belief in a lower protective tariff. The only industry Hoover wanted to be heavily protected was the agricultural industry. This was be far the worst outcome of Hoover's presidency.
Influnce
One of the biggest influences from Hoover's presidency was his Good Neighbor policy. The policy laid a solid foundation for future presidents to follow in. This is key for good solid relationships with foreign nations. Other than the Good Neighbor policy, Hoover had no other influence on society because of his focus on improving the national economy during the Great Depression.
Conclusion
Herbert Hoover faced the hardest times as president. The Great Depression shocked the government as well as the whole nation. He was not prepared for the task at hand and his advisers mislead him. He tried his best to improve the economy to the best of his abilities. Hoover had very positive outcomes and very negative outcomes through out his presidency. There were a few more positives actions than negative, so Herbert Hoover deserves a C+ as president of the United States.
Bibliography
"American President: Herbert Clark Hoover." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/hoover.
"EH.Net Encyclopedia: Smoot-Hawley Tariff." EH.Net | Economic History Services. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/obrien.hawley-smoot.tariff.
"Herbert Hoover." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Hoover#Foreign_relations.